Maradona wore Argentina's No. 10 shirt in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final against England in Mexico
Striker Keito Nakamura scored the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup's first hat-trick as Japan hammered Honduras 6-1 to begin their campaign on a resounding note at the Indira Gandhi International Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday.
Pele's greatest contribution to both soccer and Brazil was to transform his underachieving nation into a footballing superpower.
First half goals by Giovani dos Santos and Javier Hernandez gave Mexico a 2-0 win over Brazil in a friendly in Dallas on Sunday.
Mexico sprang the perfect trap for confident and overwhelming pre-game favourites Germany on Sunday to take advantage of the champions' defensive weakness in their opening match at the World Cup.
The referees at the centre of controversy in the Germany v England and Argentina v Mexico second round matches have not been retained for the remainder of the tournament, FIFA said in a statement on Tuesday.
Pochettino, who is well aware of Messi's game-changing abilities having worked with the 35-year-old last season, said he was still the best player in the world.
"It's a beautiful thing that many people outside Argentina want us to be champions and that it's largely because of me," Messi said.
Messi played a key role in guiding Argentina to their first World Cup title in 36 years when they beat defending champions France in the final in December last year.
Croatia gave themselves a fighting chance of reaching the World Cup knock-out phase when they thrashed a toothless Cameroon 4-0 on Wednesday.
Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Priyansh advanced to the compound mixed team final, confirming India's second medal, while Deepika Kumari brightened the country's gloomy recurve campaign, reaching to her second successive Archery World Cup semifinals after her comeback in the Stage 2 of the event, in Yecheon on Friday.
Japan World Cup match a big draw for viewers in Japan, less so in Germany
Morocco, in second place in their group but tied on 4 points with top team Croatia, play their final game of the group stage against Canada on Thursday.
Fans watching the games at the stadium and on televisions the world over have made the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 even more memorable.
India may have lost the ODI World Cup final to Australia but have increased their lead over them from three to six points, leading the table with 122 points.
Give Argentina a two-goal head start and the result will not be in much doubt, as Mexico discovered when a dreadful decision and a defensive mistake smoothed a World Cup quarter-final path for the twice winners. Surging with the self-confidence Diego Maradona seems able to transmit directly from the touchline, Argentina found life absurdly easy for much of a 3-1 win at Soccer City in Johannesburg on Sunday.
Fourteen stadiums across the US will host the Copa America matches.
England enjoyed a triumphant home send-off to the World Cup when an unfamiliar team packed with reserves outmuscled a skillful Mexico side 3-1 in their last home friendly at Wembley on Monday.
It was a feast for the eyes as 40,620 people turned out at the Saltlake Stadium and witnessed the five-goal thriller with England dominating the first one-hour, followed by Mexico's second-half resurgence.
Read on to find out who is the more popular team among the models.
Copa American champions Argentina are unbeaten in 35 games and if this is to be Messi's final World Cup, they are in the form to deliver the title.
After scoring, Messi stopped and pointed from the field at the team co-owner David Beckham, who was watching the game. The gesture was met with a wide smile from the former Manchester United great who helped lure Messi to the MLS despite a massive counter offer from Saudi Arabia.
"We set out with a goal to show the rest of the world how we play soccer and I think we partially achieved that even though we fell short of our goals. I think this group is close" Berhalter said.
Morocco's Bounou felt dizzy but will play against Canada, says team doctor
The 32-year-old is his country's all-time leading scorer with 37 goals in 74 outings.
Argentina and Australia have only two full days to rest, a factor Argentine manager Lionel Scaloni called 'madness'.
Rediff.com brings you the best quotes of the day from Brazil!
Brazil comfortably reached the World Cup last 16 after Paulinho and Thiago Silva scored in each half to give them a 2-0 win over Serbia who were eliminated on Wednesday.
FIFA conceded earlier this year they were concerned about the possibility of contrived results where two teams could engineer a positive result for both, which would eliminate the third group team not playing.
The metal arena sits on the waterfront overlooking the Arabian Gulf and the West Bay skyline, but it could easily be mistaken for a shipping container yard if not for the structure that supports the roof.
The top 10 most-capped players in men's soccer:
Defending Copa America champions Argentina and South American heavyweights Brazil were drawn in favourable groups for next year's edition on Thursday, while hosts the United States will come up against 15-time winners Uruguay.
Argentina began their 2018 World Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw against Iceland -- a game in which Messi missed a penalty -- and finished second in their group before being knocked out by eventual winners France in the last 16.
His agent Bo Gustavsson told Reuters he had passed away Monday morning.
A week before they kick off their Copa America campaign against Peru, Brazil dominated a poor warm up match though there was a moment of brilliant by Philippe Coutino when they opened the scoring after 27 minutes.
It's the first yellow card issued by a lady referee in the men's World Cup -- Stephanie Frappart is the umpire; Costa Rica's Oscar Duarte is the player -- and it all happened in the 76th minute of the match against Germany.
Budweiser World Cup campaign curbed, not crashed, by Qatar beer ban
Argentina are on a 36-match unbeaten run with top scorer and captain Messi playing his fifth and last World Cup in search of the elusive honour
Lionel Messi made a rousing debut for Major League Soccer's Inter Miami as he scored a stoppage-time winner to beat Liga MX's Cruz Azul 2-1 on Friday in their Leagues Cup opener in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
